Personal computer terminals are equipped with a card cage having a number of slots wherein optional feature cards may be plugged into ones of the slots to increase the operational capability of the computer terminals. For example, a feature card having memory chips installed thereon may be inserted into a slot of a computer terminal card cage to increase the random access memory (RAM) of the computer terminal thereby enabling the computer terminal to run more robust software programs. In another application, a hard disk feature card may be inserted into another card cage slot to increase the storage capability of the computer terminal. In still yet another application, a graphics feature card may be inserted into a card cage slot to improve the graphics operational capability of the computer terminal.
A typical backplane assembly is installed on a computer terminal by securing the backplane assembly to the card cage to shield and cover the card slots of the card cage. To install a feature card, the backplane assembly must be removed from the card cage so that the feature card can be inserted into the appropriate slot of the computer terminal card cage. The backplane assembly must then be reconfigured to remove a filler member portion of the backplane assembly that previously covered and shielded the empty card slot. After reconfiguration, the backplane assembly is again assembled onto computer terminal card cage.
A problem arises in that such backplane assemblies are usually secured by screws to the computer terminal card cage. To install each feature card, the backplane assembly must be removed from the computer terminal by removing each screw that secures the backplane assembly to the computer terminal card cage. After the feature card has been inserted into the appropriate slot, the reconfigured backplane assembly must be reassembled to the card cage by reinstalling each screw to secure the backplane assembly back onto the card cage. The time required to complete this time-consuming installation of the feature card greatly increases the down time and decreases the efficiency in use of the computer terminal.